reb's looking up. jeff's looking forward.



last night was the official family going away dinner for jeff and rebecca. i've never seen such a wet house dinner. tears everywhere, perpetuated more by the men who kept trying to stand up to give toasts only to be overcome with emotion.

we always have "neat" people in the house. architects, musicians, painters, botonists, teachers, adventurers. we always have people who touch us, or who we realize (never too late) are part of our extended family. but then there are the exceptional who live here. who mark our lives. who change our lives. who somehow without even trying, make our lives and living situation better.

and that was jeff and rebecca.

there was the good bye dinner last wednesday for friends. and then there was the dinner last night, house only. and maybe it was that -- knowing that we were surrounded by only those who belonged to the hallowed establishment walls. or maybe it was the wine flowing freely. but probably it was the acknowledgment of two extraordinary people who have touched us all so deeply. and sweetly.

jeff and reb are off for an adventure. first a month traveling across the country to "catch a keely" (jeff's too-be neice who's due to debut in a week or two) and then to reb's family in mass. and then they are off to australia for a minimum of three months, but with hopes of down-under landscape architecture positions.

shane said, the world is small. even in australia you will only be a day away.